Feeding attachment for punch presses



Jan. 8, 1935. w, w, ME 1,986,983

FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR PUNCH PRESSES Filed Oct 18, 1933 2 Sheets-sheaf.1

I. WHIWWW IIIH HIJLIJIiIHIIHHLI Izvewr Jan. 8, 1935, w. w. SIME1935,9833

FEEDING ATTACHMENT FOR PUNCH-'PRES'SES Filed Oct. 18, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FEEDINGATTACHMENT FOR- PUNCH PRESSES This invention resides in the provision ofa novel punch press attachment, for use in feeding material such ascolor chip stock to acutting die.

The attachment is designed to feed a large 6 number of strips at onetime into proper relation to the cutting die of the press, to permit, ifdesired, the cutting of round, round cornered, square or wedge-shapedchips from the strips; it insures an accurate positioning of the strips;it stacks all of the chips after they have been cut; it is easy for evenan inexperienced person 'to operate; it permits of quick reloading; andit may be readily adjusted for strips of various widths.

In the particular feeding and cutting organization presented herein forthe purpose of exempliflcation, the old practice of cutting chips fromstock by pushing a die through the stock has been discarded in favor ofa novel and decidedly more advantageous method in which the stock ispushed through a tubular die, which die forms a conduit through whichthe cut chips are carried away from the cutting zone while maintained instacked relation. It will be appreciated,

however, that many of the other features'of the invention are applicableto other methods of cutting, and it will be further appreciated that allthe features are susceptible of embodiment in structurally modifiedforms coming equally within the scope of the appendedclaim.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side view of an ordinary punch press equippedwith the improved feeding attachment; 1

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the attachment, taken on line 2-2of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the press. 'itaken above theattachment, on line 3-3 of Fig. 4 is a plan view of the cutting die onthe g of the press,taken on line'4-4 of Fig. 1;

1 5 is alongitudinal vertical section through attachment and adjacentportions of the 6 isa vertical transverse section through attachment,corresponding .to the sectioned o on in Fig. 2 but showing the guidingangles narrow strips;

'7 is a plan view of one of'the strips, with aeveral round corneredchips cut from the same; r and j Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one ofthe resultchip5 I The attachment which forms the subject matin positionin order to accommodate.

ter of this invention includes a channel 10 which projects horizontallyfrom a position directly beneath the vertically reciprocating head 11 ofa punch press 12. The channel 10 is attached to the head by means of apair of flat plates 13 5.

which are positioned against opposite sides of the channel and head andare rigidly secured thereto by a number of bolts 14.

The channel 10-which is characterized by a wide flat bottom 15 and lowside flanges 16conl0 tains a center gauging plate 17 and two sideguiding angles 18. The plate 17 is provided with a longitudinallyextending row of evenly spaced apertures 19 (see Fig. 5), and isfastened .down against the bottom 15 of the channel by screws 20. Theangles 18 are fastened down against the bottom 15 at opposite sides ofthe plate 17 by screws 21 which. are anchored in the lower flanges ofthe angles and extend downwardly through laterally elongated slots 22 inthe bottom 15, where they are engaged by readily adjustable thumb nuts23.

The stacked strips 24 which are to be out are 7 adapted to rest flatlyon the plate 1'7 with their side edges held against lateral displacementby guiding engagement with the upstanding flanges 25 of the angles 18.If wide strips are to be fed, 4 the angles 18 are placed with theirlower attaching flanges toward the inside, as shown in Fig. 2, iniorderto form a wide guideway between their upstanding flanges, while ifnarrow strips are to be fed, the positions of the angles 18 arereversed, as shown in Fig. 6. The slots 22 permit of a close. conformitybetween the strips 24 and the sides 25 of the guideway.

The strips 24, if of colored chip paper stock, are ordinarily quiteflexible and are rather diflicult to manage when handled in the usualway. With this improved feeding attachment, no troubleis experienced atall, as the strips rest flatly on the plate 17 between the guide flanges25 of the angles 18. The strips at one end are clamped firmly togetheron a small follow-up carriage 26 which is adapted to be moved alongbehind the strips 24 in the guideway formed by the plate 17 and theangles 18.

The carriage 26 consists of a small rectangular base 27 and acorrespondingly shaped top 28, which top is hinged at its rear end tothe rear end of the base by a pin 29. The front end of the top isflanged downwardly to form a gripping jaw 30 which is located directlyabove a low flat shelf-like surface 31 on the front end of the base.Just behind the surface 31 the base is provided with a small upstandingflange 32 against which the ends of the strips 24 are adapted to abut.

- The base 27 of the carriage rests on the plate 1'! a nut 36,which nutand slot permit adjustment of the boss longitudinally of the carriage.This adjustment can be utilized whenever it is found that the front endsof the stacked strips do not extend far enough over the hereinafterdescribed cutting die after the rear ends of the strips have beenclamped in the holder and the boss 33 has been indexed in the first oneof the apertures 19. The ends of the strips 24 are caused to be clampedfirmly between the Jaw 30 and the surface 31, in abutment with theflange 32, by a hand lever 37, which is pivoted to the upper end of astud 38 which extends through a slot in the top of the carriage. Thelever 37 is provided about its pivotal axis with an eccentric hubportion 39 which is adapted to cam downwardly against the top' and moveinto a dead center position, thereby clamping the top tightlyagainst'the strips. A

. 37 is swung into its released position, which is the position shown indotted lines in Fig. 5.

Where the channel 10 extends beneath the head 11 of the press, thebottom 15 of the channel is i cut away to form a rectangular opening 41,and a minate flush with the edge of the opening 41.

' The stationary lower bed-portion of the press is provided with aremovable plate 44 in which an upwardly directed hollow cutting die 45is mounted. In the particular embodiment shown, the die 45 is ofrectangular form with the comers rounded in order to cut out coloredchips of the unique shape shown in Fig. 8. The upper bladelike edge ofthe die 45 cuts through the portions of the stack of strips whichproject over the opening 41 beneath the block 42, cutting the chipscleanly against the block and receiving the cut chips in stacked formwithin the hollow interior of the die. The cut chips 46, some of whichare shown in Fig. 1, move downwardly through the hollow interior of thedie upon each successive cutting operation and pass into a tubular chute47 which is curved from a vertical position horizontally into areceiving guideway 48. During their passage from the die 45 to theguideway 48, through the chute 47, thechips 46 are maintained in stackedrelation to each other. To prevent the ilrst chips cut from falling, aplug 49 of any suitable material, which will frictionally engage thewalls of the chute 47, is placed in the top of the hollow die before thepress is started and is pushed downwardly by the cut chips along withthe, latter. I

As the chips are cut from the strips 24, the waste stock moves from thechannel 10 into an inclined trough 50 whichis attached to the channeland moves up and down with the latter. The trough 50 may be used todischarge waste stock into a suitable receptacle behind the press, uponrelease of the hand lever 37.

The cutting die 45 is detachably secured by bolts 51 and clamping bars52 to the removable bed plate 44 over an opening 53 in the latter. Theclamping bars 52 extend crosswise of the bed in lapped relation toflanges 54 on the base of the die 45, thereby permitting the die to beadjusted laterally with respectto the feeding attachment. The removablebed plate 44 is slidably mounted on the bed between two retaining guides55 and is locked in position by a screw 56, all as clearly shown inFigs. 4 and 5.

In the operation of the press, the tubular cutting die 45 remainsstationary on the bed of the press while the pressure platen, with thefeeding attachment, moves up and down, pressing the stock against thecutting edge of the die and forcing the resulting cut chips into the dieon eachstroke of the press. The lowermost position of the channel memberof the attachment is indicated in Fig. 5 by the dotted line 10.

With the above described attachment, the cutting of color chips or otherarticles from flexible -sheet material becomes a very simple matter.

After each cutting operation of the press, the operator merely advancesthe carriage 26 from one of the indexing apertures 19 to the next. Theshoulder provided on the front end of the carriage by the clamping law30 will abut with the edge of the block 42 to prevent the carriage frombeing advanced too far. Since it is merely necessary to lay the carriage26, with its attached stack of strips 24, down in the channel in orderto start the feeding and cutting operations, an extra carriage can beemployed if desired and the same reloaded outside of the channel whilethe first carriage is being used in feeding another stack of strips,thereby eliminating any loss of time for

